Toddlers scratching with black for pleasure. Teenagers who don’t use colours. Children who draw with black very often. Are they all depressed? Or could it be something else…

Several times I have been asked about the use of black in a child’s drawing:

• My child uses a lot of black; is he depressed? 

• What should I do with black in the drawing box of a three-year-old? Take it out, because it is so gloomy? Or leave it in?

Ok, let’s start with the last one.

This is, of course, entirely up to you. It’s as simple as that. I choose to leave black in the drawing box. It is true that young children have less need of colour nuances. The older children become, the more value they attach to ‘the exact colour’. The primary colours go a long way for children up to about 4,5 years old. As I said, I also use black. Let me to tell you why.

Black feels ‘heavy and dark’ for many people. The association with death, gloom and depression is quickly made. Especially in the Dutch culture where black is often used in connection with mourning and death.

But it is also an expression of power. Many people who are (or want to be) powerful wear this colour. It radiates invulnerability. It indicates a boundary; don’t get too close.

My experience with drawings of young children is that the colour black is regularly used during the ‘toddler puberty’ period. This is the phase in which toddlers are obstructive, say ‘no’ and develop their own will. They rebel against the ruling authority (parents). Later in life, many adolescents also use black in their drawings. This is another phase of rebelling and developing one’s own identity. In both phases, this can be seen in their behaviour in day-to-day life. At such moments, it becomes even clearer that drawing, in addition to play, is a form of processing the feelings and experiences of children.

It also happens that a child who uses black pencils or markers rebels against a situation in daily life which he finds difficult to express in words, but which does bother him. The child may be giving off a signal that you as a caregiver can be extra alert to. Is there something going on or is it a one-off expression?

Often the use of the colour black shows that the child is rebelling. Does not agree with it. He is discovering and developing his own identity. And that can be quite confusing…

This dark colour can also be an expression of many feelings mixed up together and having difficulty in interpreting these, let alone expressing them. Everything is mixed up inside and the child has no idea what he actually feels. An intense inner world, in other words.

Real thinkers

Some children are real thinkers. They think a lot. It is remarkable to see that many of these children like to sketch with grey pencil and prefer not to use colours. Then they can always adjust the image they have in their mind. With an eraser.

A lack of colour or the use of black can indicate melancholy, but it doesn’t have to be that way. It is important that you keep an eye on several signals that the child gives off with his behaviour and attitude and add them up. Please do not rely on one ‘black’ drawing; drawings are a snapshot. At another moment a child feels differently and draws something else. If a ‘black phase’ (or black and white) lasts a long time, it is good to keep an eye on your child’s mood.

Is this not the case? Then good luck with the rebellious moods, which you will certainly have to deal with from time to time in this rebellious phase 😉

Lots of love,